Bill Mentions

House Republicans unveiled legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (also know as Obamacare). We've uploaded the full bill text, so you can start messaging your lawmakers (even before the legislation is formally introduced and assigned a bill number). Share your thoughts, and we'll continue to update this page!

Bill Mentions

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) sets the budget and expenditures for the Department of Defense each year. Coupled with defense appropriations bills, it is how Congress oversees the defense budget.

What’s this controversial provision I’m hearing about?

A provision in the House bill to prohibit discrimination by federal contractors has proven controversial.

Rep. Sean Maloney (D, NY-18) offered an amendment that would include protections for the LGBTQ+ community. The 2-minute vote was close. After the two-minutes allotted for voting, there were 217 votes in favor of Rep. Maloney’s amendment and 206 against. Instead of gaveling down at the two minute mark, the speaker pro tempore kept the vote open for 7 minutes and 37 seconds and the final vote was 213 votes against and 212 votes in favor.

Bill Mentions

Before adjourning for the fall recess, the House and Senate passed their respective Water Resources Development Acts (WRDA). The WRDA became a major player in the continuing resolution (CR) negotiations, as it includes funding for Flint, Michigan. While both versions concern the handling of water resources and give attention to the crisis in Flint, there are key differences in the bills.

A Brief History

Heard of the WRDA before? That’s likely because there have been ten of them passed, with the first dating back to 1974. The most recent WRDA was passed in 2007. They are typically technical bills that outline the uses, security, and infrastructure of water resources, and thus don’t receive much media attention. However, as the CR negotiations hung partially funding for Flint, the WRDA became a focal point – with bipartisan compromises helping to prevent a government shutdown.

Sponsor: Rep. Bill Shuster [R, PA-9]

Bill Mentions

The nation was struck by tragedy in the early morning hours of June 12, when a gunman in Orlando opened fire in a gay nightclub, killing 49 people and then committing suicide. Almost unimaginably, that was only the beginning of shocking events, as the days that followed brought the killing of Philando Castile and Alton Stirling by police officers and the July 7 ambush in Dallas that left five officers dead and injured nine others. The violent events sparked debates among lawmakers about how to respond and prvent future tragedies.

Bill Mentions

That means House Democrats and Republicans will appoint a few members as "conferees"; Senate Democrats and Republicans will do the same. The conferees will meet to hammer out differences between what passed the House and what passed the Senate, to reach one combined version that will go back to both chambers for a vote. According to U.S. Constitution, chambers must pass identical legislation for bill to become law.

President Obama has threatened to veto both the House and Senate versions.

Bill Mentions

What is a Sanctuary City?

A "sanctuary city" is one with policies to shelter immigrants who are in the United States illegally. These practices can be law (de jure) or they can be by practice (de facto). Generally, these cities do not allow municipal funds or resources to be used to enforce immigration laws, usually by not allowing police or municipal employees to inquire about an individual’s immigration status.

As the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained, “one of the characteristic elements of our broken immigration system is the significant challenges that the federal government and federal law enforcement officials have had in enforcing the law by working closely with local law enforcement officials."

When comprehensive immigration reform efforts failed in Congress two years ago, President Obama scrapped the Secure Communities Program, which previously codified the relationship between the federal government and local law enforcement that caused a number of cities to declare themselves sanctuary cities.

The Secure Communities Program was then replaced by the Priority Enforcement Program, which focuses on convicted criminals and others who pose a danger to public safety.

Bill Mentions

As the U.S. economy recovers from the 2008 crisis, many wonder if the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act will be able to prevent future banking crises while still allowing investments to flourish. In response, several lawmakers have proposed legislation related to Dodd-Frank.

A Brief History

Following the Great Depression, the Glass-Steagall Act was enacted in 1933. The Glass-Steagall act banned commercial banks from dealing securities and prohibited investment banks from accepting deposits – essentially separating commercial and investment banks to protect consumers from risky investments and prevent future economic crises.